page_title: Mimic octopus
section_title: Habitat and range
hierarchical_section_title: Mimic octopus / Habitat and range
caption_attribution_description: Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus).
context_page_description: The mimic octopus is an Indo-Pacific species of octopus from the Indo-Pacific region. Like other octopuses, it uses its chromatophores to disguise itself with its background. However, it is noteworthy for being able to impersonate a wide variety of other marine animals. Although many animals mimic either their environment or other animals to avoid predation, the mimic octopus and its close relative the wunderpus are the only ones known to actively imitate a number of animals in order to elude predators.
context_section_description: The mimic octopus was first discovered off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia in 1998 on the bottom of a muddy river mouth. It has since been found to inhabit the Indo-Pacific, ranging from the Red Sea in the west to New Caledonia in the east, and Gulf of Thailand and the Philippines in the north to the Great Barrier Reef in south. Most documented records are from Indonesia. It is primarily found in areas with sand or silt at depths of less than 15 m (49 ft). It prefers obscuring murky and muddy sea floors to blend in with its natural brown-beige coloring.
caption: Mimic octopus showing typical pattern
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot G9", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2010:07:24 09:03:53", "Image ExifOffset": "171", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:07:24 09:03:53", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:07:24 09:03:53", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "5", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "117/16", "EXIF ApertureValue": "29/8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode, red-eye reduction mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "37/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2575", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1925", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "371134/27", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "369863/27", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}